Volumetric strain 2026-10-25
The first-order relative change of volume for a small displacement field. It is the trace of the infinitesimal strain tensor. For a radial displacement field in spherical coordinates, .
Volume viscosity 2026-10-13
Bulk viscosity is the dissipative response to a fluid's volume expansion or compression, distinct from the shear response. For a Newtonian isotropic fluid its isotropic dissipative stress includes , and nonnegative gives nonnegative compression-related dissipation. A condensate's relative-density-flow bulk coefficient must be identified from its particular hydrodynamic equation; it is not automatically numerically identical to a dimensional Newtonian viscosity.
Voxel 2026-10-24
A volume element in an imaging measurement. In functional magnetic resonance imaging, one voxel aggregates an indirect signal over many cells, so a shared response at voxel or region scale need not imply the same active neuronal population.
Weighted open-box minimization Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For a topless rectangular box with dimensions , volume , and weighted face costan interior optimum equalizes the three terms:The same result and global minimality follow from the arithmetic-geometric mean inequality.
Wood density 2026-10-20
Work-conjugate stress and strain Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
A stress measure is work-conjugate to a strain measure when their contraction gives the mechanical power per specified volume for every admissible deformation rate. The reference-volume power is , with Kirchhoff stress tensor and rate-of-strain tensor . A strain constraint can leave the conjugate stress undetermined by a reaction component that does no admissible work; uniqueness should therefore not be assumed on a restricted set of rates.
Young–Laplace equation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The Young–Laplace equation relates the pressure jump across a stationary interface to its curvature and surface tension. Choose a unit normal vector pointing from the inside region to the outside region, and define to be positive for a convex sphere. In mechanical equilibrium, with constant surface tension and no additional normal viscous stresses,Here are the signed principal curvatures in this convention. Their sum is twice the corresponding signed mean curvature; stating the convention prevents a factor-of-two ambiguity. The Young–Laplace equation is a local normal stress balance for one interface. [ref]
https://arxiv.org/html/2011.11403v2. Tomas Bohr and Bernhard Scheichl, Surface Tension and Energy Conservation in a Moving Fluid, equations (8)–(9)
A spherical liquid droplet of radius in a gas has one interface, with . An ideal thin soap bubble has two liquid–gas interfaces. Adding their pressure jumps givesFor the soap bubble, now means the inner gas pressure minus the outer gas pressure. The second formula assumes equal surface tensions on both faces and film thickness negligible relative to , so their radii can be identified. Retaining distinct radii gives . A gas bubble inside bulk liquid has only one interface and therefore uses . [ref]
With the assumed constant toy surface tension , a droplet with has excess pressure ; at it has . A thin soap bubble assigned the same and has excess pressure . These are differences from the surrounding pressure, rather than absolute pressures. Halving the radius doubles the capillary pressure; doubling the interface count also doubles it at fixed radius and surface tension.
Smaller droplets need larger excess pressure; two bubble interfaces double it
. Left: a virtual outward displacement of a sphere balances pressure work against increased surface energy. Right: excess pressure in pascals versus positive radius in millimetres for one and two interfaces, using the assumed constant toy . Details.The spherical case has a short work argument. A virtual increase in radius gives and . At mechanical equilibrium, the net pressure work balances the increase in surface energy:For a thin soap bubble, both interfaces gain approximately the same surface area, doubling the right-hand side and giving . This is a virtual work balance between neighboring spherical configurations, rather than an assumption that a fixed-volume droplet actually expands. The general Young–Laplace equation replaces the spherical area-to-volume ratio by local curvature, making geometry directly measurable through pressure.
